We are asked frequently what the differences are between sateen and twill–

Basically, sateen is a thinner, lighter fabric and twill is a heavier, coarser fabric. Twill can be slightly more supportive than sateen with a big, heavy toddler, but the difference is slight. Some customers have said that sateen is more comfortable in a hot climate. Twill tends to breathe a bit better because the weave is looser.

Twill uses heavier threads woven in an “over one and under 2 (or more) threads; over one, under two (or more)” repeating pattern, with an offset between rows that creates the characteristic diagonal pattern. How many threads the cross threads go under determines the slope of the diagonal pattern.

Sateen uses finer threads woven in an “over four, under one, over four, under one” repeating pattern. This places more threads on the surface of the fabric, which makes it smooth and soft, with a slight sheen, but slightly less durable.

There is a misconception that twill and/or sateen have a ‘diagonal’ weave, meaning there are threads going diagonally across the fabric.  This isn’t true, all of the threads run horizontally or vertically.  The manner that the threads are woven simply creates a diagonal pattern.

In general, our twills are more prone to shrinkage than our sateens. Some of our twills will shrink slightly with the first wash, even when washed in cold and air dried. Most of our sateens will not shrink when washed carefully in cold, reshaped and air dried. Twill shrink some widthwise, sateen generally shrinks lengthwise only.

Neither twill nor sateen are any more or less stretchy. All of our fabrics stretch widthwise only, from hem to hem. They do not stretch lengthwise.

Black sateen will attract less lint and fuzz and wash better than black twill.